FLUX

Universal Gaming System

Characters

Characters:

Characters all have ratings of a 0, 1, 2, or 3.

All player characters will be defined by a Rating of 1, 2, or 3 during character creation. This will generally not change during a campaign. A character may only buy powers of his Rating or lower; however, any character may buy any Spec, regardless of level, so long as they meet its prerequisites; however, lower Rating Characters receive slightly more Experience, as they must be faster learners to keep up with higher Rating characters.

Players and storytellers should decide at the beginning of the game which Rating each character will have. Characters are limited to purchasing powers of their rating or lower, but lower rating characters will have more points to spend.

0. Gritty characters often have no business in a fight with more powerful characters, but often find themselves in one anyway. Still, other more powerful characters could hardly succeed without people to fetch their coffee, sell them their weapons, or against which they could fight.

1. Heroic characters do not have superpowers, but make up for this with advanced training. Their natural abilities are often well above average, but not preternaturally so. Most powers for heroic characters will have a coincidental or technological skin. Such characters tend to complement this with a wide array of Skills and Specs.

2. Superheroic characters are just that: superheroic. They can do things normal mortals only dream of doing. Still, they can prove all-too mortal if not careful. Most Superheroic characters will have a few powers, supported by a decent amount of skill training.

3. Godlike characters have such powers that they defy easy understanding by normal humans. Such characters may very well be immortal in some sense. Still, given their detachment from the rest of humanity and the ease with which their abilities often allow them to resolve confrontation, they tend to learn more slowly than others.

All Rating 1 and higher characters start with four Levels on the Damage Track. Certain beings, especially non-humans, may have more or less.

Stat Chart

A character’s Stat Chart represents their innate raw ability. Each Stat will have a die type associated with it. A d6 is considered the average of human ability, d4 is below average, and d12 is considered the pinnacle of human achievement. Stats without the benefit of Skill training often are not terribly consistent, thus even the most talented individuals can fail easily and often without the proper training.

Each character has three aspects: Physical, Mental, and Social. Each of these will have two Stats: Might and Finesse

Might is used to affect or resist things through direct means, whether brute force, raw intelligence, or sheer force of personality. Physical might includes raw strength toughness, Mental Might governs calculating ability, memory, I.Q, and perceiving things reflexively without actively looking for them, while Social Might reflects pure Charisma, physical attractiveness, and force of will. Might governs Passive defenses, which are always in effect even if a character is unaware of an attack.

Finesse is used to affect or resist things through indirect means, whether quick reflexes, a sharp wit, or subterfuge. Physical Finesse includes speed, hand-eye coordination, and agility, Mental Finesse governs wits, quick thinking, and actively searching for something, and Social Finesse reflects guile, subtlety, and empathy. Finesse governs Active defenses, which are not useful versus attacks of which a character is not aware.

All characters start with a base d4 in each of the six Stats. During character creation, the player receives (13 – Character Rating) one-step upgrades. Each upgrade progresses the Stat one higher on the progression below. Upgrading from a d8 to a d10 costs two upgrades; upgrading from a d10 to a d12 costs three upgrades. Players may buy them higher w/ XP later.

d4-d6-d8-d10-d12

Physical Mental Social
Might d4 d4 d4
Finesse d4 d4 d4

For reference, this is enough for a Rating 1 character to start with all of his stats at d8, or slightly above average, as player characters generally should be more impressive than the average person on the street.

Skills:

These reflect the specific training and life experiences a character has undergone. Skills are divided into two categories: Talents and Areas of Study. When purchasing any Skill, choose one Specialty. A Specialty works differently with Talents versus Areas of Study. Specialties make a Character’s talents more effective in a given situation. When taking an action with a Talent involving a Character’s Specialty, the character gains a +1 bonus to all rolls or static values. When rolling for an Area of Study, if the character does not have the required Specialty, downgrade the die two steps. If this would lower it below D4, you may only roll untrained. The GM will provide a list ahead of time for which Specialties would be most common in a given Campaign setting, and if any would not apply or be restricted.

All skills start Untrained. Each character starts with 30 – (Character Rating x2) skill Upgrades. At the first die upgrade, they become d4Upgrading from a d8 to a d10 costs two upgrades; upgrading from a d10 to a d12 costs three upgrades. Talents cost one additional Upgrade per die. A character may also spend one Upgrade to purchase one additional Specialty beyond the first one chosen.

Skills are divided into two categories: Talents and Areas of Study. When purchasing any Skill, choose one Specialty. A Specialty works differently with Talents versus Areas of Study. Specialties make a Character’s talents more effective in a given situation. When taking an action with a Talent involving a Character’s Specialty, the character gains a +1 bonus to all rolls or static values. When rolling for an Area of Study, if the character does not have the required Specialty, downgrade the die two steps. If this would lower it below D4, you may only roll untrained.

The character gains a number of Experience Points to spend on Specs, Powers, and further upgrades for his Stats and Skills. This XP total may vary depending on the needs of the Campaign and the starting desired skill level of the characters. Recommended Starting Skill Level XP:

75 – (Character Rating x 5)

XP Costs
Stat Die: New Maximum Die Result x3
Talent Die: New Maximum Die Result x2
Area of Study Die: New Maximum Result
Spec: Rating x4
Power: (Rating x12) per Rank.
Power Mod: 6 per Rank of the power per point of mods.

Costs given for Stats and Skills are to upgrade a die by one type. Thus, a character with a d4 in a Stat would pay 18 points to upgrade it to a d6. Later, the character would pay 24 points to upgrade their d6 to a d8. A character buying a new skill would pay 4 or 8 points respectively to purchase a new d4 in a Talent or Area of Study, then later would pay 6 or 12 points respectively to upgrade their d4’s to d6’s.

Some Specs are tiered, meaning a higher rating Spec may have a lower rating Spec as a prerequisite, requiring a character to progress through the Specs in order from lowest to highest when purchasing them.

A power may only have as many Positive mods as would double its base unmodded cost. A power may have as many negative mods as are appropriate, but may not lower its total modded cost to less than half its base unmodded cost.

Character Advancement:

At the end of every session, the GM will award a number of experience points to each player based on the following criteria. GM’s may adjust this amount, or add or subtract additional criteria, depending on the needs of the campaign.

Players spend the following amounts to purchase new traits for their characters. New traits are purchased during extended downtime, most often between sessions. Purchases should make sense, reflecting a character’s recent experiences and training he has recently undergone. The GM may refuse a certain purchase if it does not make sense. Players should make an effort to “telegraph” their future trait purchases through the actions of their characters, showing their character acquiring the life experiences to justify their improvement in a particular area. At the GM’s option, players may also purchase a trait at a dramatically appropriate moment as well; this option may make sense

A character may only upgrade any given Stat or Skill one die type per session, and not purchase a trait for which he already purchased one of its prerequisites in the same session.

At the GM’s Option, a character may sell off traits which have not seen use in some time. Once per session at the START of that session, the character may sell off one trait. You gain a number of experience points equal to the amount it would have cost to purchase that trait at the END of the session AFTER you sold off the trait, minus a 1 point surcharge per trait sold back.

You may add a Mod to an existing power, or buy off a negative one, simply by paying the difference. If adding a negative mod, you must do so at the START of a session. You then gain a number of experience points equal to the amount it would have cost to buy it off at the end of the session AFTER the one in which you acquired it, minus a 1 point surcharge.

You may also remove a Specialty from a Skill, following the same rules as above, removing a Specialty at the start of one session, and adding a new one in its place at the end of the following session. You still pay a 1 point surcharge for the change, even if the Specialty was included for free with the skill originally.